The landmark removal of Adultery as a criminal offence in India, following the Supreme Court's Joseph Shine judgment (2018). The BNS has no equivalent to IPC 497.
IPC Section 377 (Unnatural Offences) was read down by the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018). Consensual adult same-sex relations are now decriminalised. The BNS has no equivalent provision for consensual adult homosexual acts.
IPC 304B (Dowry Death) is renumbered as BNS 80 with no substantive change — the 7-year marriage rule, the "soon before death" standard, and the statutory presumption of guilt remain fully intact.
IPC Section 302 (Murder) transitions to BNS Section 103, which retains Death/Life imprisonment AND introduces India's first dedicated mob lynching clause under sub-section (2).
The iconic IPC Section 420 (Cheating) is renumbered to BNS Section 318. The law is substantively identical — dishonest inducement to deliver property remains the core — but the cultural shorthand "420" is now legally obsolete.
IPC 304A (max 2 years) is replaced by BNS 106 which triples the base sentence to 5 years and introduces a landmark hit-and-run clause: up to 10 years Non-Bailable for drivers who flee after causing a fatal accident.
IPC 376 (Punishment for Rape) is restructured as BNS 64, placed in Chapter V (Offences against Women & Children) — the earliest substantive chapter in the code — signalling the highest legislative priority. Mandatory trial by woman judge added.
IPC 498A is now BNS 85 (offence) + BNS 86 (definition of cruelty). The key upgrade: BNS 86 explicitly includes mental health within the scope of "grave injury," closing decades of inconsistent judicial interpretation about whether psychological harm alone constitutes cruelty.
IPC 378 + 379 (Theft) merge into BNS 303 with two historic changes: community service as an alternative for first-time petty thieves (property under ₹5,000), and a minimum 1-year sentence for repeat offenders — neither existed in the IPC.
Public Nuisance — Various Forms
The renumbering and reorganisation of laws against criminal agreements in the BNS.
Comparing the laws against performing mock or fraudulent marriage ceremonies in IPC and BNS.
The legal provisions for dishonest misappropriation of property have moved from IPC 403 to BNS 314.
BNS Section 4 introduces Community Service as India's sixth formal punishment — a historic first in the general penal code, shifting philosophy from purely retributive to partially reformative.
The transition of legal protections for the unborn and minors from IPC (312-318) to BNS (Sections 88-94).
The renumbering of legal protections for those lacking criminal capacity — children, the insane, and the involuntarily intoxicated.
BNS Section 111 is one of the most transformative new provisions in Indian criminal law — the first time "Organised Crime" appears in the general penal code, bringing gang-based criminal enterprise under a national framework previously handled only by state MCOCAs.
Every section indexed is matched against the latest 2024 Gazette datasets.
Instantly find the equivalent BNS provision for any IPC section.
Judicial commentary and simplified explanations with every result.